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William Beauclerc Otway
William Beauclerc Otway
	Dauggereotype c.1860
Born	14 July 1819; New Orleans, Louisiana
Died	Australia
Spouse	Rebecca Chapman (Raby) Abrams
Children	Willie Dow Otway

William Beauclerc Otway (14 July 1819 – after 1866) was a mid-nineteenth-century American dragoon, overland emigrant, merchant, mineralogist, gold-miner and quartz-crusher. He is credited with being the first person to crush quartz for gold at Ballarat and for an early attempt to mine and process silver ore at St Arnaud.[3]

United States

Born in 1819,^[1]^[2] Otway joined the US Army Second Dragoons in May 1840 at the age of twenty, enlisting at New York. He served for a single five-year stint and was discharged at New Orleans having attained the rank of second sergeant.^[3]^[2] Some years later he participated in the California Gold Rush^[3]^[4]^[5] before settling in Portland, Oregon Territory, where he became a merchant.^[6]

He married Rebecca Abrams in San Francisco on 28 July 1852.^[1]

Australia

The Otways sailed to Australia in 1853, disembarking at Melbourne on 27 December^[7]^[5] and arriving at Ballarat three weeks later^[8] where they built a home on top of Black Hill.^[9]

Otway chaired a dinner honouring US Consul James M. Tarleton on 28 November 1854 held to show American support for the government in the face of increasing agitation by the miners in the lead-up to the Eureka Rebellion.^[5]^[3]^[11]

Three weeks after the Eureka Rebellion Otway gave evidence at the Gold Fields Commission of Enquiry. He was not questioned about the rebellion, and the bulk of his evidence was about the practicalities of mining and its regulation.^[8]^[3] Notably, he states that his was the only quartz-crushing venture then at Ballarat, and he is often credited with being the first to mechanically crush quartz at Ballarat.^[12]^[11]^[3]^[13]^[14]^[15]^[5]^[16]^[17] He publicly launched his patented "improved" Chilean mill in January 1855,^[14] but the venture appears to have failed commercially. 'Willie' and Rebecca moved to Steiglitz,^[3] where his only son, Willie Dow Otway, was born on 16 January 1858.^[1] A quartz reef at Steiglitz was originally named after Otway, but was later renamed as the Copenhagen.^[5]

Otway's Alpha Silver Mining Company, formed in 1861, was the second mining company at St Arnaud and the first to attempt to specifically mine for silver. After considerable investment in leases and equipment, the mine was acknowledged as a failure by 1863, and the assets sold off in 1864.^[18]

There is no known record of Otway's death. The memorial to him and his family in St Arnaud cemetery suggests his family believed he may have gone to Western Australia.^[19]

Legacy

Otway Street in Ballarat, Victoria,^[3] and Otway Creek near Mangana, Tasmania, were named after him.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Birth record of William Dow Otway (Otways's son) 12 March 1858 (birth date is 16 January 1858)
^ ^a ^b United States Registers of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914, index and images, FamilySearch : accessed 24 February 2015, William B Otway, 08 May 1840; citing p. 167, volume 043, New York, United States, NARA microfilm publication M233 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 21; FHL microfilm 350,327.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Bowden, Keith MacRae (1977). Goldrush doctors at Ballaarat. K. M. Bowden, Mulgrave, Victoria
^ Bader, T. M. (1988). The roaring days: Trade and relations between Chile and Australia, 1849–1860. Journal of Australian Studies, 12(23), 29-44. doi:10.1080/14443058809386980
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Potts, E. Daniel (Eli Daniel) & Potts, Annette, (joint author.) (1974). Young America and Australian gold : Americans and the gold rush of the 1850s. University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia, QLD
^ United States Census, 1850
^ Victoria. Inward Overseas Passenger Lists (Foreign Ports). Microfiche VPRS 7667, copy of VRPS 947. Public Record Office Victoria, North Melbourne, Victoria.
^ ^a ^b Victoria. Commission Appointed to Inquire into the Condition of the Gold-fields of Victoria, Carr, C. W., Fawkner, J. P., Hodgson, J., O'Shanassy, J., Strachan, J. F.,... Wright, W. H. (1855). Gold Fields Commission of Enquiry: Report of the Commission Appointed to Enquire into the Condition of the Gold Fields of Victoria, &c. &c. Melbourne: John Ferres, Government Printer.[1]
^ ROUGH NOTES – BALAARAT, CRESWICK'S CREEK, DAISY HILL, SIMPSON'S RANGES AND CASTLEMAINE. Melbourne Morning Herald. 9 February 1855
^ [Scenes from Ballarat, 1852-1855] [picture] / F. W. Niven & Co.[2](accessed 18/10/2014)
^ ^a ^b Bate, W. (1978). Lucky city : the first generation at Ballarat, 1851-1901. Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Press.
^ Baragwanath, W. (1923). The Ballarat gold-field. Victoria: Victoria : Dept. of Mines.
^ Cope, G. S. (1971). Some aspects of the development of the metal trades in Ballarat 1851-1901.
^ ^a ^b Davey, C. J. (1996). The origins of Victorian mining technology, 1851-1900. The Artefact, 19(v), 52-62.
^ Department of Industry Technology and Resources. (1985). Victoria's golden years. [Melbourne]: Department of Industry, Technology and Resources.
^ Smyth, R. B. (1869). The gold fields and mineral districts of Victoria / by R. Brough Smyth. Melbourne: Melbourne : Govt. Printer.
^ Withers, W. B. (1887). The history of Ballarat, from the first pastoral settlement to the present time (2nd ed.). Ballarat: F. W. Niven and Co.
^ Birrell, Ralph Winter (2008). A New Bendigo – The story of the Gold & Silver Mines of St. Arnaud. R.W. Birrell, Strathfieldsaye, Victoria, Australia
^ ^a ^b Photograph by Neil Huybregts 6 March 2015